Outdoors: Oyster poachers putting dinners at risk

While I and other Barnstable shellfishermen have to wait until November under the law to harvest our oysters, some people are getting theirs early. They're crooks.

The West had their cow rustlers; we've got our oyster poachers. Some of the oyster growers would like to smear them with more than cocktail sauce. Discouragingly, the thieves stole about 3,000 of them from Barnstable's town-operated oyster farm in the Marstons Mills River, which is a nursery for them while they're reaching maturity. Barnstable has a wonderful program, releasing the oysters for residents to harvest every November. Thanksgiving won't be quite the same this year, especially for the shellfishermen who ply West Bay, where those oysters would have been stocked.

Oyster thieves had previously ravaged the Crowes Pasture area around Dennis. Losses are alleged to be more than $40,000. It takes three years of care to bring an oyster to marketable size. Let's hope that no restaurants will support the thieves by buying their loot at discount prices. Diners could be in trouble, too.

The oysters raised in bags in the Marstons River are filter-feeding in water that's polluted with human waste fecal bacteria. That can prove nauseating — and worse — for those who eat them. The nurtured oysters are typically taken to clean waters, where they're released in August, giving them enough time to rid themselves of contamination and grow even bigger. Recreational thieves who may have stolen them will likely get very sick if they eat them right away. But more likely, the massive number of oysters was poached by commercial thieves.

If they do sell them to restaurants at discount prices, where they'll typically be $2-$3 each on the menu, customers are likely to get very sick from them. If the oysters are sold to other oyster farmers, they'll have plenty of time to clean themselves for safe marketing. You'd hope, though, that fellow oyster farmers, knowing how much hard work goes into nurturing the stock for three years, would be loathe to take the hard-earned production of other farmers.

With added security, including cameras on-site, there's hope the oyster poaching will stop, and the recreational harvesters will be able to look forward to a Thanksgiving treat this year.

Strange catches

While many serious anglers are getting psyched about bonito and false albacore, some very unusual fish have been caught off our coast recently, including triggerfish, wahoo, redfish, and cobia.

On recent offshore party boat trips, several big wolf fish averaging about 30 pounds were landed, too. The latter are seldom observed and little known by most of the public. They're caught by anglers fishing very deep — or trawlers dragging the bottom. But you won't find them in any fish market. They're a rare Species of Concern and illegal to keep.

Wolf fish live from Greenland south to Cape Cod, in very cold waters. Their sometimes near-freezing habitat, typically from 30-37 degrees, forced them to evolve a natural antifreeze to maintain blood movement. Living in rocky caves deep on the bottom, they move little, slowly pursuing shellfish, sea urchins, starfish, hermit and green crabs.

Their intimidating teeth give them their name. Both jaws possess four to six vicious-looking fangs. Behind the upper fangs are three rows of crushing teeth. Behind the lower fangs are two rows of molars. Even its throat has imposing serrated teeth.

It's a shame they've been over-harvested and draggers continue to inadvertently kill them as by-catch and destroy their bottom habitat. They're as delicious as tautog.

The cobia we've seen brought in are long and thin like a barracuda. Their protruding lower jaw gives them much the same silhouette. They're pretty flashy looking, too — dark brown on top with a contrasting white belly that extends from the pectoral fins and lateral line all the way back to the tail. Their big dorsal fin is almost shark-like. If you catch one, you're in for a treat. Their flesh is firm, sweet and typically grilled or poached.

Because they don't school, however, there's no significant commercial fishery for them. They're consequently tough to find in the market. Cobia may, though, like barramundi, someday be farmed intensively enough to make them more readily available.

Going for sharks

Commercial striper fishing will resume on Sept. 1 and end as soon as the yearly quota is reached. The commercial take will be limited to Sunday-only fishing, with a limit of five fish.

Mid-July through August is prime time for local shark fishing. Several anglers fish for sharks off the entire New England coast, typically traveling 8-12 miles offshore, preferably on 30-foot boats that can handle rough conditions.

Four species are now the targets — blue, thresher, porbeagle, and the favorite of all, the delicious and hard-fighting, dramatic-jumping mako. Fish typically range from 80 to more than 500 pounds. Catching more than a dozen a day is not unusual.

Moving songbirds

With the onset of migration, August is one of the best months for birding. There are many birds, and rarities show up now. Coastal areas can be especially rich for shorebirds and even migrating butterflies and dragonflies.

Shorebirds that nested in the Arctic actually began appearing here in mid-July, when many adults, having completed their breeding, left their precocious young and proceeded south without them. Without a map or adult instruction and accompaniment, those juveniles uncannily know which direction to go for the winter. The shorelines of Monomoy and Plum Island are now bursting with them.

In addition, the songbird migration is in full swing, evidenced by the Auburn Sportsman's Club's birdbanding team having set up their mist-nets to commence operations beginning Labor Day weekend.